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Thursday, March 17, 2016

Happy St. Patrick's Day - Tunes for April, Upcoming CCE Session and more!

Always fun when the gang shows up...

There's something really ideal about a small group of musicians poring over some tunes, thinking about tunes for next time, chatting about vacations and travel and musical pursuits. It's really fun! Join us in April for more of the same - a nice gathering of good people playing tunes and enjoying one another's company. If you are new to your instrument, or new to Irish music, this is a friendly place to start building your repertoire, to learn some new techniques, a friendly forum for the music. Everyone is welcome!

This month, we went over all of our Spring 2016 Tunes, plus we played some tunes off of the current CCE slow session list. Paul and Gary gave us two new tunes, Hilary gave us two new tunes, and Nancy told us the tunes that her group added to their set list for their performance at the Soul Cafe at Albany's Westminster Presbyterian Church on March 28, 2016.

Next Old Songs Irish Slow Session is Wed., April 20th, 2016

At the next session, we'll be reviewing our Spring 2016 Tunes:

The Hole in the Hedge/Seamus Cooley's/Kerfunten Jig

Joe Bane's Barndance in G

Drunken Landlady/Joe Bane's Reel

And we'll be working on some tunes from the CCE session list:

Swallowtail Jig

Father O'Flynn's (Top of Cork Road)

Kesh Jig

Sean Bui Jig

The Lilting Fisherman Jig

Anne Walsh's Reel

Sound files and sheet music for these new tunes will be added to the folder - but not tonight! It's 12:02 am and I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow. After all, it's Saint Patrick's Day!

There's a binder now!

Hey, gang - remember a couple of posts ago when I said I would create a binder of tunes? Well, I've grabbed sheet music for most of the tunes on the new CCE list, and gradually those tunes will be added to the dropbox folder for your perusal. Also I'll be recording and adding sound files. The binder will travel with me to the slow session, so if we need to look at the spots for tunes, we've got 'em. Many thanks to Gary and Paul for hanging on to all the sheet music from both sessions over the years.

It's right on the heels of the Old Songs Slow Session! Is that a mistake?

Nope! Not at all! Here's the cool thing about the way our sessions are scheduled: Because ours is a mere five days before the Comhaltas session, you can come to our session and break down the tunes, play them slowly, get comfortable with them, really dig in and work on them. And then you can go the Comhaltas Session and play the tunes - At the CCE Session, everyone starts a tune or a set of tunes. Our session is your chance to get comfy playing some tunes - we're sharing the list, so you can ask us to work on something you want to play at that session...

You will be most welcome in April! Plan to come and join us - we have such a great time!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! No matter what, make sure you take a minute to appreciate what you're doing, who you're with, and where you're headed. Make it great!

See you tomorrow at The Hangar at the Ale House in Troy? 4-7 p.m.! Or if you're in Albany, go and see Toss the Feathers at The Olde English from 4-7 p.m.. Or in Saratoga? See the Whiskey Peddlers at Powers Inn & Pub from 6-9 p.m.!

Don't believe what they say on the radio - there's PLENTY OF GREAT IRISH MUSIC going on in the Capital Region on St. Patrick's Day! All you have to do is look around!

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Slow Session

This blog is for the monthly Irish slow session held at the Old Songs Community Arts Center, 37 South Main St., Voorheesville, NY 12186. Session on Third Wednesday, 7:30-9:00 pm (except July and August), $4 suggested donation to Old Songs for heat/air conditioning/light/photocopies, etc. Led by Irish fiddler Hilary Schrauf.